This is the Meat Puppets’ first major label album, and the first since the collapse of the band’s indie label, SST. Apparently the trio emerged creatively unscathed, destined to be forever filed under the alternative section by radio programmers and record stores. Jangly guitar pop, punk thrash, and the slightest hint of country are blended together and topped off with surreal lyrics sung in unique harmony by brothers Curt and Kris Kirkwood.

Except for a little-too-country instrumental “six gallon pie”, every song on this album is strong, from the mid-paced “This Day” and “No Longer Gone” to the faster “Open Wide” and “Another Moon”. The title song proves to be the highlight as the band sings of the forbidden places in today’s big business, corporate dominated world. Fortunately, the Meat Puppets’ jump to a major label means they may continue to play the “abolished music, lost for ages, the living words of forbidden pages.”